Mrs. Twiss was born in Bennington on July 15, 1937, the daughter of Alton and Bernice (Stetson) Cross. She grew up in Wilmington and was a 1956 graduate of Wilmington High School. She married Harry Twiss Jr. in Maulgraugh, KY, on March 21, 1959, where he had been stationed in the US Army.

Mrs. Twiss worked at the Skyline Restaurant, Long Jim Inn, Merchants Bank, and had been co-owner, with her husband, of the Jacksonville General Store.

Mrs. Twiss enjoyed being a 4-H leader when her children were young. She was a member and leader of TOPS and achieved her KOPS status. She was awarded the “KOPS person of the year” for the state of Vermont in both 2006 and 2008. As a community member, she had worked many elections as a poll worker for the town of Whitingham and was a 12-year volunteer with the Whitingham Ambulance Service where she earned an EMTI certification. Always very active, she enjoyed being with her various groups of friends to go hiking from spring to fall and snowshoeing in the winter. Line dancing was a weekly event in North Adams. Her reflective times were spent in her garden cultivating roses, hollyhocks, and gladiolus.

Mrs. Twiss also was an avid reader who enjoyed quiet times with a good book. Her grandchildren will miss her annual tradition of making gingerbread houses for them all to decorate following their Thanksgiving dinner.

Mrs. Twiss will be remembered for her outgoing personality, always being social and very personable and having a ready smile. She was the proud matriarch of her immediate as well as her extended family and anyone else who was willing to join them.

She leaves her husband of 53 years , Harry Y. Twiss Jr.; son, Peter Twiss, of Willington, CT; daughters, Lynn Twiss and partner Steve Martineau, of Westminster West, and Nancy Russell and husband Michael, of Jacksonville; brother, Stanley Cross and his wife Sylvia, of Wilmington; sister, Rosemary Hunt, of Rochester, NH; nine grandchildren; two great- grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews and cousins. Her daughter Virginia died at birth in 1961.

There will be no calling hours. Funeral services will be held on Friday, December 21, at 11am, at the Covey Allen & Shea Funeral Home in Wilmington. Burial will follow in the Riverview Cemetery. A reception will be held after the burial at the Whitingham Municipal Center on Route 100 in Jacksonville.

Memorial gifts may be made to the charity of one’s choice in care of the Covey Allen & Shea Funeral Home, PO Box 215, Wilmington, VT 05363. To send condolences visit sheafuneralhomes.com.

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